Synopsis: Korra is stuck supervising the ex-Equalist at his apartment.
Lieutenant shuffled uncomfortably under the condemning gaze of the Avatar.
"It looks like we forgot you here while searching for Amon. Now, get up!"
He riveted and stirred from the crate of boxes he had been hammered against. A hand rose to his head in an attempt to seduce the growing pain. Painkillers? Water? Getting knocked out again…anything to remove the pain.
The voice commanding him sounded familiar, it was one he had grown to hate over the course of the Equalist movement…An equalist no longer, betrayed by his own kin.
He sat up, but pushed no further, his legs would not allow him, "What do you plan to do; it must be such a burden to have me still alive?"
"Get up," Korra crossed her arms, "This is no time for self-pity."
"People will only laugh at me now," Lieutenant chuckled sadistically. A hand ran through his messed hair, back down to the side of his head, clutching, still reliving the betrayal.
"I see no one," Korra demonstrated expanding her arms in an elaborative manner. They were in the abandoned warehouse that Amon had been taken down in. An interrogation had been ordered a few hours after a search for the runaway had concluded Amon and another unknown to be deceased. Korra remembered the absence of the other elements tightening her fist in an apprehensible manner. "I'm the only one here, and the last thing I want to be doing is laughing."
Ironically, the armour clad Equalist snorted.
"I see you stopped him," he said, his right hand now masking his face from the shame and embarrassment.
"No I didn't." Korra defensively spoke. Her eyes flickered briefly between remorse for Amon's death and justice for the terrorist.
"What?" The Lieutenant stirred.
"I only managed to neutralise his power…he managed to escape. After a couple of hours searching, we found something that indicated otherwise." Korra noted, "The interrogators found there were two unconscious bodies. One was…Tarrlok…and the other…"
Lieutenant saddened, his jaw clenching, and his mind shaking disbelievingly.
"This…I can't even expect to continue living after everything," Lieutenant confessed, his real name still unknown to Korra.
"I need to take you to the police," Korra notified beginning sternly, "Any attempt at resistance will be challenged with enforcement. Understand…" By the end her tone lowered in reflection to the betrayal of the man. Although once an enemy, the falling of the Equalist leader seemed to blur open a new chance to repair connections with non-benders. This guy, sitting miserably before Korra, was the closest thing to Amon other than Tarrlok. Hiroshi was immediately sent to solitary confinement on approval of Asami, but the Lieutenant had been forgotten amongst everything else.
"Get up," Korra insisted once more. He struggled but failed, perhaps his legs were fractured?
Korra knelt down beside the older man, he looked to be in his early 30s, and without the mask he was more approachable. She wrapped an arm under his shoulder and supported his weight. Kicking away the crate that was sandwiching the man, she helped him up to his feet steadily. He felt no resistance, but a shock emanated from his body. His blue eyes widened with surprise at the contact.
"If you couldn't walk, you could have just said so." Korra retorted.
The Lieutenant turned in absence; the brief moment of shock was overwhelmed by a large dose of depression and hopelessness. He stared at the ground in defence.
"I'll help you until we get out, there are paramedics waiting outside for any casualties. We can hold off your interrogation till later."
He briefly nodded, and the way to the paramedics was nothing more than uncomfortable silence.
Korra believed she was doing a good thing.
"Avatar," the Lieutenant hoarsely warned, "You can leave."
"No." Korra jerked the apartment door back open. She forgot the power of her own strength and sent the Lieutenant toppling a few steps before regaining balance. He awarded her a threatening glare. "I have a duty to abide by Republic City's court."
She stood centimetres away from him, her face not budging.
He stared her down and sighed irritably. "I will behave. Just tell them I am in my apartment and will not be making any trouble."
"What is there to honesty and commitment, if the Avatar can't even keep the most basics of value?" Korra turned on her heel and proceeded to the couch. "So your name is Wei?"
The Lieutenant shifted uncomfortably. Korra was flicking through some documents that she had brought. The court commission to surveillance the ex-Equalist one day a week, it part of the duty of the Avatar to keep a personal check on the affected civilians after the terrorism, expelling the fact 'Wei' was one of the main contributors.
"If you must comply with the council, which I find completely jarring considering you did not give an essence of sympathy to their pleas before all this, at least have the respect to take your feet off the coffee table." The Lieutenant took to his kitchen and took out two mugs, a teapot and lit the flame on the gas stove.
"Ehe Whoops sorry." Korra stuttered and obeyed, lowering her feet to the ground and turning her head to face him. "So whatcha making?"
"Green tea."
"You have lychee juice?"
"I am not your servant," Wei huffed.
"Green tea then." Korra pouted, "Is that all you have?"
"Problem?" He quirked an eyebrow in her direction over the counter.
"No. None at all." Korra said. "It's just different."
"I still have time to put your mug away."
"I'll be quiet." Korra bobbed her head to the side. She drummed her fingers against the arm rest and then sighed boringly. She arched forward and took the documents in her hand again; she flipped through till the last paper-clipped document. A photo of Wei without the usual mask appeared. Below the mugshot were facts about the man. A smile slowly formed, as Wei's supervisor it would have been smart to brush up on the information beforehand. But being in a rush for such an early morning, there was no time.
"The tea will be a few minutes. I hope you can be patient." Wei folded his arms over his long sleeved blouse.
He popped his head around the kitchen window frame when there was not even a grumble of a response. Korra appeared from the side and made him flinch. She laughed and said, "Let me see."
"See what?" He withdrew, believing it to be one of her idiotic conceptions.
"The tattoo," Korra smiled. "I always thought it'd be cool to have one of a howling wolf on my arm, but as long as I'm with Tenzin on the island it's a no-no."
"I care why." He sighed. "And does not the Airbending monk have an arrow of tattoos over his body?"
"Well yeah…" Korra mused the thought, "You know come to think of it, I never came up with that for an excuse…Anyway! The tattoo! Show me it. Please?"
"No, and I have no such thing." He turned his head to hide the embarrassment.
"It says here, it's on your right forearm," Korra dabbled before noticing him shift his arm uncomfortably. It was true.
She worked her way around the counter and cornered him, a coy smile and large eyes in hope of getting him to budge and show her.
"I said no! I will not show you. Leave me alone."
"What's so bad about lifting your sleeve and showing me? Sheesh!" Korra huffed, raised her arms to her waist and pretended to leave when the man directed his attention to the whistling tea.
Korra did two things wrong in the turn of a heel. Firstly she grabbed his right forearm when his left was attempting to carry the pot. Secondly, upon realising this, it would have been best to let him go and avoid pouring the hot water when she pulled up his sleeve, glanced at the quote of a tattoo and then looked up due to the manly yell and incoming boiling water.
Luckily, her defensive instincts kicked in and she bended the dyed water, the falling hot teapot though, was another uncontrollable issue.
She stood twisted with Wei in the small 'U' shaped kitchen to watch the teapot hit Lieutenant's torso and then hit the ground. Steel teapots were the best for conducting heat. Lieutenant hissed and pushed Korra away, she lost control of the boiling water and it poured on both their arms.
"I fought back too many times, and bit my mouth to make sure I would not insult anyone. But you are an idiot." He hissed, the burn on his torso and tattooed arm cursing him. "How hard is it to respect people's personal space?"
"Will you calm down?! I can heal."
"One of the reasons I dread bending. It makes people believe there are quick fixes for everything."
"Bending exists, it's not some distant reality. It's time you learn that."
"It's the attitude brought out by bending. Bending makes people take things for granted."
"Not necessarily."
"You just showed an example. You tried to excuse yourself from breaking a rule by waterbending and healing your way out of it, whereas if you had listened and not excused yourself, none of us would be in this business to begin with."
Korra did not respond. He had a point and she was afraid of these type of comments. She was meant to establish tolerance, not create more reasons for someone to hate bending. She bit her tongue to refrain from arguing back.
"I am sorry. I thought my old ways were gone."
He brought a restraining uninjured arm to his neck.
Korra's eyes widened.
"Here let me heal you." Korra said numbly.
He offered his arm willingly. His sleeve was already rolled up and Korra could see the skin wrinkling under the heat, somehow it had missed the tattoo on his upper arm. She brought blue glowing fluid to his injury and read the quote as seconds passed by.
'Errare est humanum' she read and wondered what it meant.
It almost seemed he could read her thoughts.
"It is a human quality to make mistakes."
"Excuse me?"
"It is what my tattoo says." Wei looked down at the curious girl sitting beside him on the couch. "It looked like you were trying to decipher it."
"Oh yeah…" Korra smiled glumly and turned away. She brought her hand to her lap. "It sounds about right."
Wei frowned and proceeded to lifting his shirt. Well, it was a little awkward he had to admit, but it needed to be healed. He was not going to be prevented from doing trivial chores because of an accidental burn.
"You need to heal here next."
Korra was a little out of it and when she readied her hand to heal the next unexpected place she flinched and turned read.
"Ehe," Wei laughed unsurely. "I am sure you have healed other patients in more severe areas. It is nothing."
"Yeah you're right." Korra nodded enthusiastically. It was not like she had never touched a bare chest before. It was not like she had never had to tend to injured, unconscious patients. He was breathing. Living. His chest was fluxing. She was slightly pained to be distracted by a man at least ten years her senior. She watched from the defined abdominal line to the burn on his right rib. Thankfully, it was not too bad. She could quickly glide over it and pretend she never saw his toned torso. Yep she never saw anything.
Soon enough his shirt was back down and Korra was up on her feet, carrying an empty bowl and placing it in the sink.
"Funny how things happen huh?" Korra attempted to break the awkward atmosphere.
"So much for tea," Wei carried and leaned on the bench with folded arms. He seemed a little looser. Perhaps he was becoming comfortable with the Avatar around.
"I can take care of it while you sit and rest."
"I would rather not take the chance if you do not mind." Wei laughed.
"I guess that would be a smarter choice." Korra mumbled, a little embarrassed that it was now becoming a joke. "How about we settle for tap water then?"
Possibly be continued...